Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[GregnLety]

My grower doesn’t have high protein so that’s a disappointment, I would feed the chicks starter/grower from Purina but it was pure dust that I bought! So wasteful- I used it for mash twice a day.

I do have a high protein supplement but it also has high calcium can’t win….

Very hard to get a variety of stuff here.

Here we can get game bird starter which has 30% protein. Possibly you can find that?...

 

[Ponypoor]

I want it to be known. If two little rocks who pretend to be angels do not stop being so pecky at night on the roost they will have a name change. Trudy and Judy are about to be called Heckle and Jekyll. Such sweet little chicks until it is time to roost. Then they peck anybody and everybody. I threatened tonight to put them on each side of Holly to see how they liked it. Judy reached out and tried to eat my freckle on my cheek. Sigh, you know if Queen Raven does not rear another brood it might actually be a good thing.

Watch your eyes around those two! Just saying

My 4 babies try to roost with mama on the ledge and she pecks them away, so do the others.

Tonight I insisted they sleep on the bottoms ledge, and it took me forever to get them to stay put, at one point they were going to snuggle up in my arms! Darn cute, but nope not happening.

I finally got them settled and snuggled together. We shall see if they stay put. So far it looks like they are still there on the bottom ledge.

A few pics of our young naked necks.View attachment 3606785this guy sounds like his dad Big Boy when he crowsView attachment 3606794the Silkie cross has the same tail feather coloring as Big Boy.
View attachment 3606795
Not a naked neck but a silkie cross and she's a cutie.

Love those feathers on her feet.

 

[Ponypoor]

Here we can get game bird starter which has 30% protein. Possibly you can find that?...

We can’t get that here either .

It’s either chick starter we can get medicated and non medicated from 3 different makers (the Sharps brand has large crumbles hard for little chicks to eat), Grower from the 3 different makers (Purinas is just dust!), and layer ration from the 3 makers. I haven’t tried Purina layer brands.

There is a serious lack of variety here, oh hey I haven’t looked at Peavey Mart to see if they have an all flock… they carry their own brand of feeds.

EDIT: nope Peavey Mart has just starter medicated, grower at 16% and layer.

 

[featherhead007]

Happy Birthday Alex

Thank you

 

[Lilion]

My grower doesn’t have high protein so that’s a disappointment, I would feed the chicks starter/grower from Purina but it was pure dust that I bought! So wasteful- I used it for mash twice a day.

I do have a high protein supplement but it also has high calcium can’t win….

Very hard to get a variety of stuff here.

I read the labels on the layer and the all flock feed at the feed store. As to protein and calcium, they were nearly identical. Like 1-2% difference.

 

[featherhead007]

I believe that today was a successful one. I did everything that I needed to do. Did the things that I wanted to do. And only had four telemarketers call me. (Who I messed with)
The chooks are all quiet in the coop (probably stuffed with spaghetti)

 

[Ponypoor]

I believe that today was a successful one. I did everything that I needed to do. Did the things that I wanted to do. And only had four telemarketers call me. (Who I messed with)
The chooks are all quiet in the coop (probably stuffed with spaghetti)

A productive day I would say

I love messing with telemarketing calls. - don’t get much anymore we are on a do not call list - this is a law here. Works pretty good.

 

[Ponypoor]

Here we can get game bird starter which has 30% protein. Possibly you can find that?...

Hey I actually found one of those by going directly to the Sharps website, 30%. Might look at that closer.

 

[Ponypoor]

It has now been 48 hours since a hen fight and my flock has a new queen. I thought yesterday the matter was settled and today when I threw out some scraps to the chickens I realized it finally was. Raven has firmly established herself as head of my flock. I tossed out cornbread, pineapple chunks and half a pork chop tore up from them. She firmly planted herself right in the middle of the prize food pile and ate her fill. No one was allowed to snatch a bite until she had finished half of it herself then she allowed the others to come share. Holly was there, and she did not even try to bully her way in until Raven allowed the others to start eating. Most importantly Raven held all the hens at bay without a single peck. She simply ran up to the pile and all the hens backed away. Finally after almost 3 weeks of uproar and chaos peace has returned to my flock. Now that the new queen has been crowned I am curious. Will my faithful trusted broody hang up her hat for rearing chicks.

Long live Queen Raven!
View attachment 3606263View attachment 3606268View attachment 3606271

Happy fluffy butt friday from Raven and one of her laidies in waiting.
View attachment 3606274

Well I don’t really have one big queen other then Penelope, there seems to be more fluidity here. My nieces black hen Raven seems to be the leader of her pack of velociraptors. And the older chicks really don’t have a leader; Rico is the de facto big boy on the block, but most of the chicks ignore him.

This morning my nieces hens wouldn’t come out of their pen, Rico was waiting for them but they didn’t want to go out so I let them stay in their pen. As Fluffy had broke my quarantine a couple time with the Azur’s I decided to let them in with the nieces hens, and of course Fluffy had to go in also - I think she just also wants to get away from Rico and Penne.

What surprises me is that Mr P chases my nieces hens away, they want to join his group, and I bet his protection, but he chases them off if they come near him.

So as it stands right now, the nieces hens, Fluffy and the Azurs are together. Locked in away from the boys. Not sure what to do with them, I can’t keep them there all the time, and with quarantine broke because of Fluffy I am a bit panicked with that. Though I am not extremely worried as my biggest worry would be avian influenza from thos factory farms, but seems that is very low I haven’t heard any places under quarantine or any wild bird deaths from the flu. I am more worried about Weat Nile with the explosion of mosquitoes here.

Ok well enough worrying I need to throw down hay befor it startes to rain here. Any thoughts on the Rico situation let me know.

 

[Ponypoor]

I read the labels on the layer and the all flock feed at the feed store. As to protein and calcium, they were nearly identical. Like 1-2% difference.

I want a lower calcium around 1% but a higher protein around 20%.

I bought the Purina Gold'N start & Grow crumbles and it was pure dust, it had the values I wanted (calcium at .85, protein 20%).

I now have the Optical 16% Chick Grower course crumble but the protein is only 16%, calcium is 0.87%.

I do have a high protien supplement here, at 36% protein, but the calcium is 7% so I try not to feed much of it - I add it to the mash.

Guess I will just wait till everyone is laying age and go back to the layer ration, and hope Mr P is ok with that....